Residents enjoy Oxford from a rickshaw

Testing accessibility for the rickshaw on cycle paths around Oxford

What is the most fun you can have on three wheels? Answer: Riding round Oxford in the sun on the electric assist tricycle rickshaw owned by the charity ‘Cycling without Age’. Fairfield is lucky to be a regular user of the rickshaw, so when we were asked to take a ride into Oxford for a newspaper article we were happy to oblige.

Maddie, one of our activities team was the pilot with two of our residents as passengers. We set off from Fairfield towards Broad Street in the city centre where we were able to admire the new meadows, a temporary new outdoor space containing wildflowers, trees and small lawns with wooden seating and planters made from recyclable materials.

The project by Oxford City Council has required Broad Street to be pedestrianized with bollards at each end to deter the car drivers. Luckily there was ample room for Maddie to steer the rickshaw through so that her passengers could admire the new ‘Broad meadows’.

The newspaper piece was by Cyclox, which exists to encourage all sorts of cycling and we were testing out accessibility for the rickshaw on cycle paths around Oxford.

Admittedly, we looked pretty unusual as the bike is really a forward facing sofa on wheels and we attracted quite a bit of attention from pedestrians who waved, clapped, cheered and some even asked for a ride.

It being a sunny day we removed the canopy roof and so were able to really notice the beautiful architecture on the top of buildings as well as the amazing display of roses outside the Wadham College warden’s house in Parks Road. All in all we had a wonderful ride around Oxford.

You can read the full article here: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19447024.cycle-campaigners-test-trishaw-oxford-city-centre/